Hastet
Hastet is a fictional character in the Wild Cards series of books. She is a Takisian chef and wife to Jay "Popinjay" Ackroyd. History Born on the planet Takis to Tarhiji parents, Hastet was like the the rest of the Takisian majority, mindblind and sworn to loyalty to her ruling House. In Hastet's case she was sworn to House Ilkazam, the clan of Prince Tisianne, better known on Earth as Dr. Tachyon. Attractive for one of the mindblind underclass Hastet attracted the attention of a Psi-Lord and soon a love affair was begun. For a brief time the two were happy, but Hastet became pregnant and this was a grave violation against the Takisian's strict laws on controlled breeding. Arrested by Ilkazam MIS (Mentactic Intelligence Service), Hastet was made to abort the child, then sterilized and released. The Psi Lord who fathered her child was never punished at all and Hastet grew to hate the telepathic rulers of her world. Becoming a restaurant owner, Hastet lost herself in her work. One day a stranger who spoke Takisian with an unfamiliar accent entered her establishment. The stranger was Jay Ackroyd, one of two aces from Earth retained as bodyguards to accompany Dr. Tachyon back to Takis. Tired of being cooped up in the Ilkazam compound Jay took to walking the streets of the city and happened upon Hastet's place. Quarrelsome flirtations with the human detective soon followed and soon Jay sought Hastet's help in smuggling Tachyon out of Raranna, a Takisian harem designed to protect pregnant females. The victim of a triple jump back on Earth, Tachyon was trapped in the body of a human girl, Kelly Ann Jenkins, and pregnant with the child of would-be conqueror Blaise Jeannot Andrieux, better known on Takis as the Abomination. Motivated in part by pity, Hastet overcame her hatred of the Psi-Lords in order to help the expectant mother escape Raranna. Like Hastet's own lost child Tachyon's baby would be an unplanned half-breed targeted for extermination. Jay used his ace power to teleport Tachyon, already in labor, to Hastet's apartment to finish the process of giving birth. Hastet helped Mark Meadows tend to Dr. Tachyon throughout the entire process. Disguised to still look pregnant, Tachyon was returned to Raranna. Meanwhile, in order to evade Blaise's conquering armies, Jay and Hastet fled overland from city to city with Tachyon's daughter, Illyana. Falling in with other refugees of the Takisian World War, Hastet, Jay, and Illyana were finally captured by Blaise's men. Jay and Hastet waited out the rest of the war as hostages. After the war ended with Blaise's death and the defeat of House Vayawand, Hastet married Jay and returned with him to earth. Now the owner and proprietor of Starfields, a restaurant serving Takisian cuisine, Hastet lives in New York and has the occasional brush with the wild card community due to her husband's cases. Alien Traits Hastet appears human, but she is actually Takisian. Though the two races are genetically identical she is slightly longer lived than a normal human. This longevity is far inferior to the thousand year lifespans of her homeworld's Psi Lords. Appearance Like most Takisians, Hastet is short and like other Tarhiji (commoner) women from her world she tends toward plumpness. She has been described as zaftig with long hair the color of spun caramel and a perfect oval shaped face. Personality Hastet is a stoic woman with a dour sense of humor. She is cautious, guarded around strangers, and never reveals too much of what she is thinking. She has made a life for herself on Earth and mostly tolerates her husband's easy sarcasm and strange friends. Trivia *Hastet has a pet known as a wanei, a flightless ferret-like creature with wings and feathers. Its name is Haupi and was named for her first one, which was lost during the Takisian World War. *As a sales gimmick, all of the wait staff at Starfields dress like Dr. Tachyon. Selected Reading